Thread
by The Austenite
Summary: Tori, on the five men in her life. Canon-based.


**Author's Note: This idea has been bouncing around in my head for roughly about five weeks. I finally finished the damn thing. Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I would never presume to own Power Rangers, in this case Ninja Storm. If I did, honestly, it would be aimed towards teenagers more and the bad guys would use the word 'die'.

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**Thread**

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_**"The Name Of The Game"**_

_I've seen you twice, in a short time  
Only a week since we started  
It seems to me, for every time  
I'm getting more open-hearted_

_I was an impossible case  
No-one ever could reach me  
But I think I can see in your face  
There's a lot you can teach me  
So I wanna know.._

_What's the name of the game?  
Does it mean anything to you?  
What's the name of the game?  
Can you feel it the way I do?  
Tell me please, 'cause I have to know  
I'm a bashful child, beginning to grow_

_And you make me talk  
And you make me feel  
And you make me show  
What I'm trying to conceal  
If I trust in you, would you let me down?  
Would you laugh at me, if I said I care for you?  
Could you feel the same way too?  
I wanna know.._

_The name of the game_

_I have no friends, no-one to see  
And I am never invited  
Now I am here, talking to you  
No wonder I get excited_

_Your smile, and the sound of your voice  
And the way you see through me  
Got a feeling, you give me no choice  
But it means a lot to me  
So I wanna know.._

_What's the name of the game?  
(Your smile and the sound of your voice)  
Does it mean anything to you?  
(Got a feeling you give me no choice)  
But it means a lot, what's the name of the game?  
(Your smile and the sound of your voice)  
Can you feel it the way I do?  
Tell me please, 'cause I have to know  
I'm a bashful child, beginning to grow_

_And you make me talk  
And you make me feel  
And you make me show  
What I'm trying to conceal  
If I trust in you, would you let me down?  
Would you laugh at me, if I said I care for you?  
Could you feel the same way too?  
I wanna know..  
Oh yes I wanna know.._

_The name of the game  
(I was an impossible case)  
Does it mean anything to you?  
(But I think I can see in your face)  
That it means a lot  
What's the name of the game?  
(Your smile and the sound of your voice)  
Can you feel it the way I do?  
(Got a feeling you give me no choice)  
But it means a lot, what's the name of the game?  
(I was an impossible case)  
Does it mean anything to you?  
(But I think I can see in your face)  
That it means a lot_

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**Hunter**

Tori had always had her own issues with the Crimson Ranger. He was reticent, yes, but so was Shane, in his own way. He was expressionless, but so was Cam. No, it was the aura of arrogance he wore on his proud shoulders like a stole. She fought beside him—creating a trust that no one could break—but she didn't have to _like _him.

So when Hunter offered to spar with her, Tori was understandably surprised. She'd always thought that her dislike was mutual.

At his request, it was on the beach. The sand would keep them from having the true advantage since they couldn't get their footing, and with no weapons or elements, Tori figured they would be pretty evenly matched.

She revised that opinion when he knocked her flat on her face with a simple sweep of his leg.

It wasn't that Hunter was strong. Tori were used to strength from sparring with Dustin, Shane, Blake, and even Cam. Boys had testosterone; it was inevitable about that their muscle mass and the way they used their muscles would undermine her in a straight fight. She rolled with the punches, flowing around the boys and using their strength against them. So it wasn't that.

It was simply that Hunter was so _fast_. By the time she realized he was sweeping a leg under hers', she was already on the ground. To his credit, Hunter didn't say anything like Shane would've; he simply helped her up and they started again.

It took three more rounds before Tori learned to block the leg. Then there was the punch that followed the leg that took another five rounds.

At the end of the hour and a half, Tori's one victory was when Hunter left his guard open for a second, and she knocked him on his ass. She felt like she'd climbed Mount Everest when he nodded at her approvingly. She offered her hand, and she went flying when he took it.

Still, they began to spar once or twice a week after that. The first time Hunter actually voiced a compliment, "Nice punch," Tori glowed for a week.

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**Dustin**

Dustin was the one person Tori could go to whenever things went wrong. There were times during high school, like when she first entered ninja school and nothing went right, that Tori went to Dustin. He never yelled at her or tried to motivate her. He simply let her cry on his shoulder, stroking her hair and telling her how beautiful she is.

Despite that, they were never interested romantically in each other. They were more like siblings than anything else. Tori had tried to teach Dustin—once—how to surf. After his first wipeout, he'd simply stated that he was Earth, and Earth was not meant to be on a large piece of wood and plastic in the water.

She'd laughed, and agreed to let him teach her how to moto.

Dustin was a supremely uncomplicated person. There was no deception in him whatsoever, and he was automatically honest and kind to anyone. Girls liked him for his curls and his large brown eyes, and when they got to know him they loved him for the way he treated everyone.

But despite all this, Dustin was never interested. Tori had worried for him, wondering if there was anything that could be done or the possible reasons for his disinterest, but once he'd met Marah, Tori immediately stopped worrying.

Even though Marah wasn't on their side, Tori knew that once everything was all over, there was a good chance of a relationship between the two, and she was right.

Tori was the bridesmaid at their wedding. Kapri was the Maid of Honor, with Shane as Best Man and Cam, Hunter and Blake as groomsmen, with Sensei giving Marah away. It was a small wedding, mostly Dustin, Shane and Tori's families attending.

It didn't matter.

But Tori's favorite memory of Dustin was when they went out on a trail for the first time once Tori learned to moto—properly—and she was able to keep up with him. She knew he could've gone faster, but he stayed at her pace.

In the end, Dustin was the gentleman of them all.

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**Cam**

A week after Tori received the morpher, she announced to her parents that she was moving to the ninja school. Her father had pretty much ignored her—they hadn't really didn't have much to talk about once she quit ballet and started surfing six years ago—but her mother had looked at her quizzically. _Why now, dear?_

_Because Cam needs more human contact than he's getting_.

And it was true, but her mother didn't quite understand the sudden move, but she'd let her daughter go.

She'd moved into Ninja Ops about an hour after that, taking only what she needed and no more. Since most of the stuff that Tori felt she couldn't live without ended up being in her van (her surfboard and its' accoutrements, mostly) her living space wasn't cluttered up.

It took Cam a week to get used to her simply being there, but when she didn't bother him or touch his computers without her permission, he warmed…slightly.

It was small things like a cup of hot tea ready for her in the kitchen before she went surfing in the mornings, and a granola bar when she came back.

It took Cam a while to get used to the fact that not only was Tori a girl; she was a _teenage _girl, which meant he had to deal with certain things that came with cohabiting with a PMSing girl.

Mostly, it meant that week or so Tori stopped smelling like salt water and her reflexes were slower, since she was in constant, though mild, pain. Once Cam started to count, he learned to place two Advil by her tea in the morning and not be weirded out when she slept in instead of going surfing.

Tori, though, learned about Cam as well. He didn't like human company because he thought there was something missing in his life. If he simply ignored the missing element, then he could continue to live with his father and his computers. Once Tori recognized this, she insisted the boys come to Ops more often.

After a while, Cam realized what she was doing, but by that point it was too deeply ingrained for the boys not to spend time there. Every so often Tori would catch fleeting glances of impatience and annoyance directed at her from Cam, but she always ignored it.

Cam needed human affection, too.

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**Shane**

Out of all of them, Shane was the one who Tori could go to with anything. If she wanted simple reassurance, she would go to Dustin, but if she wanted all of her problems listened to and then solutions offered, Shane was the one. Dustin introduced her to Shane, but despite the history that she and Dustin shared, she and Shane became closer.

It was really quite weird.

Shane kept an eye on her. Since she personified her element (they all did), she was more vulnerable to emotional hurt, than, say, Hunter. When the entire issue with Blake and Hunter was in the toilet, Shane made sure she didn't self-destruct on self-loathing. In return, she kept him grounded. As an Air type, he had the tendency to get ahead of himself, and she reminded him of what needed to be done as well as the impracticality of certain actions.

Shane was the one to beat up her ex-boyfriends when they hurt her, or even scare most interested guys away. Tori did her best to break him of this habit, but it made her feel a little special, that he was willing to go out of his way to protect her.

But it was annoying, especially when Shane glared at Blake when he flirted with her. It made her grin, though, to see Hunter giving her the exact same look. After a while, Blake admitted it made him laugh as well.

Still, Shane was one of her favorite people, even if he could be pig-headed at times.

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**Blake**

Ah, Blake.

Tori had felt an instant connection with him when they first met, and in his eyes, she saw he felt the same. He seemed dangerous, yes, but also…there was something that was so kind. He saved her from that disgusting frog (even if he did use it to know where Ninja Ops were located).

When they sparred, there was a spark, like there was something they were fighting for that went unsaid. Whenever Blake won, he gave her that infuriating smirk that made her want to alternately smack him or kiss him. When she won, there was something in his gaze that smoldered, a deeper meaning to an otherwise pointless spar.

Their relationship wasn't based on just mutual attraction, though. Blake read a lot more than he led on, and Tori could keep a good discussion going until the end of time. Once, Cam overheard their discussion on whether weather made an appropriate metaphor, and he looked utterly floored. It was not well known that Blake could talk about anything other than moto or food…or Tori.

There were points that Tori hated Blake's guts, but Blake never found out about those times. It mostly centered around that one week out of the month she didn't surf, but when they finally got married, those traitorous angry feelings stayed for a whole five months ("You _did _this to me, you inconsiderate bastard!").

All in all, though, they kept pretty close together. Blake spurred her to keep going until she broke through her walls, and he was there to congratulate her every time. In return, she brought out his less-seen tender side. There were times that they could be absolutely brutal to each other—generally, that was when Shane made his presence known in Blake's life—but whenever they made up to each other, it reminded the duo why they loved each other so much, even when they fought.

They fought their own battles, but they always were back-to-back, guarding each other and protecting each other from the world that would hurt them.

That's what love it, Tori thinks.

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_So, this idea that just WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE has inspired me to consider the idea of centering a group of oneshots about this, and also doing something similar to this for Dino Thunder. I don't know. _


End file.
